But in 1955 Arkansas was still a 3rd world police state. <grin>
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
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Cotty wrote:
On 8/11/05, William Robb, discombobulated, unleashed:
Creeping horseshit.
There is, to the best of my knowledge, no law requiring permission from
anyone regarding photography in public places.
Our school system is publicly funded, and as such, are public places.
Consider the school's viewpoint. A car in the car park with a man in
taking pictures. If I was a teacher I would be more than interested in
the motives of the photographer, and would at least have approached to
inquire. Calling the police is a bit much, but I've seen it here as well.
You could call shopping malls public spaces, but you try snapping a few
pics of the fountain in the mall in downtown metropolitan Regina, and
I'll bet you fifty bucks a man with a pointy hat intercepts you within a
couple of minutes.
It's a sad state of affairs, but it's reality.
The reality is also that there are ways around these things, either by
acquiring permissions beforehand, or continuing by stealth, to name just 2 ;-)
A couple of years ago, the head teacher at my son's elementary school
casually announced that no filming or photography would be possible at
the annual end-of-year musical production because 'we're not
insured' (whatever that means).
Disgruntled parents and grandparents armed with P+S cameras and video
recorders sat chastened. I ignored the statements and carried on
shooting regardless. I would have been quite happy for the head teacher
to accost me (she never did) and create a scene. I would have been even
happier for her to call the police, so that her sham could be exposed. I
happen to know that the local education policy is to allow individual
schools to decide on parent's snapping at such concerts. I would
willingly have challenged in such an open forum - and I suspect that is
exactly why she did not!
Subsequently, there was a barrage of complaints about the ban, and so
the next year, parents received a paper to sign if they *did not* want
their child photographed or videotaped at the annual concert. One signed
paper back meant that nobody could snap or shoot. Oddly enough, not one
parent signed, and the head teacher shamelessly announced that
permission for photography had been granted.
I'm a bit jaded anyway because I spend my days filming when told not to,
and I know what I can get away with and what I can't - what I want to
get away with and what I don't, and that knowledge is very powerful when
out in the real world. I've been stopped by the police many times over
the years, and not once has it gone past a friendly chat asking me what
I'm up to. But then again, I work for a national TV company and carry a
press card, and we do a lot of filming with the various police forces
and I know a lot of them by sight. I dare say if I was a single
photographer with no backup, I would tread very carefully indeed.
Even Robert Frank had his share of problems - locked up and interrogated
for hours on end after being stopped by police in Arkansas in 1955. It
can happen to the best ;-)
Cheers,
Cotty
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|| (O) | People, Places, Pastiche
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